What to do with a visitor in Shanghai? Part 1

2006 shapes up as a year of visitation. Both Linda and myself will have family and friends dropping by Shanghai in the first half of 2006, starting next Tuesday when Linda's sister Jen arrives. Hence, we're trying to nail down the ultimate Shanghai tour - what we can do, where we can take people, and more importantly, what to skip over and avoid.

As we've already had a few visitors through Shanghai, we have already identified a couple of essential activities that we've seen our guest's have enjoyed.

Bicycling
As Shanghai is flat compact (well OK, dense) city, it is ready-made for cycling. Just ensure that your guest share the enthusiasm for Shanghai's traffic, or like Mel you'll find yourself wedged between lanes on Wuning Lu during peak hour. I can't praise cycling around this city enough. My favourite street to cycle down is Fuxing Lu with its resplendent trees reaching over the road. Very pretty and safe to ride on.

Wet-market Tour
There's always a wet-market to tour in your local area. With wet-markets disappearing in Shanghai (like our local one), its a good chance to show off more of the community aspect of Shanghai life. See the butchers at work slaughtering animals, sellers spruiking their vegetables and what-nots, and most importantly, just to see how life for some Shanghainese may be so much different to mine and yours.

The Old Town Half-Day Tour
Nanshi (Old Town) is another area of Shanghai that is swept up in the relentless re-development of Shanghai. So my recommendation is to see it while it lasts. My favourite part of this district is just wandering around the streets, observing the communities and people's lives. However, I find wandering without purpose troublesome, so throwing in a few highlights of your day spice things up. We start our tour from Henan Middle Road (Henan Zhong Lu) Metro Station. If we have a few extra hours to kill, we spend time around The Bund (Waitan) area, followed by a quick taxi ride down to Dong Jia Du Lu Fabric Markets. Here you can get your favourite garments copied, buy silks and cloth, or get something tailor-made. This can take anywhere between 1-3 hours depending on what you've chosen to do there. Then, a leisurely wander while heading north through the Old Town district, cross Fuxing Lu and you'll find yourself close to the Yu Gardens & Bazaar. This is undoubtedly Shanghai's premier tourist attraction so all the trappings of a central focus venue are there. For me, the highlights of this place are the Yu Garden, tea tastings at either the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse or the Yu Stage Teahouse, tasty Shanghainese treats like xiao long bao from the various restaurants in the complex. After spending some time at the Yu Garden, we tend to head west towards the Dong Tai Lu Antique market area. On the way to this area, there's a few temples and other interesting sights to be had. Enjoy the walk. At Dong Tai Lu, you can buy any type of 'antique' so make sure you're not too gullible there. Similar items can be found at many Shanghai landmarks and markets. Following this, its a short walk the Xizang Lu (Tibet Road) Pet, Insect & Plant Market where you can watch cricket fighting. Then its over to Xintiandi, Huaihai Zhong Lu area for a well-deserved dinner in some of the better restaurants in town. And there's always a potential for a foot &/or body massage at some nearby places like Green Massage.

Massage and Foot-massage.
I'm not going to write too much about this. Everyone has there favourite place and style, but almost everyone agrees its a great way to wind up your day after being on foot. I'm a sucker for foot massage - and it can be hilarious, particularly if DaDan is there and he practices Chinese with the masseurs.

Day Tours by Bus From South Shanghai Stadium Bus Terminal.
Your ticket to the small water towns around Shanghai. Turn up, buy a ticket, and you're off. Just check when the last bus departs for Shanghai before you leave though.

Keep an eye out for Part II...

Tags: China, culture, cycling, expat, food, Nanshi, Pudong, Fabric Market, Dong Jia Du Lu, Puxi, Shanghai, wet market, Yu Yuan